In playing certain sports such as baseball, a ball is hurled toward an opposing player. Certain participants in a baseball game customarily wear protective shields over their chests, such as, the catcher or the plate umpire. The batter customarily does not wear a protective chest shield because the protective shields are often cumbersome and hard to hold in position. In addition, protective shields are difficult to apply, because straps must be adjusted after the straps are placed into position. In addition, the shields are often quite expensive. The broad concept of a protective chest shield is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 389,745 to Henry Gross, issued Sept. 18,1888. The concept of providing a specific protective device for a batter is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 2,990,546 to C. F. Doughty, issued July 4, 1961. This protective chest shield requires several straps to be buckled in order for the shield to be secured to a batter. Use of a closed cell foam material is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 3,248,738 to G. E. Morgan, issued May 3, 1966.
Although the broad concept of protective chest shields for use by batters is well-known, it is desirable to provide an inexpensive protective chest shield which may be readily donned by a batter.